


The War Behind Your Face; And I'll Express My Inner Rage

by CasTheButler



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Death Omens, Dream Sequences, High School, M/M, Magical Realism, Mental Health Issues, Temporary Character Death, minor depictions of violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:28:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23227867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CasTheButler/pseuds/CasTheButler
Summary: “So you had a dream then?” Ichirou asks, Andrew doesn’t reply, just takes a drag of his own cigarette and wishes it was something much stronger.
Relationships: Andrew Minyard & Moriyamas, Neil Josten & Andrew Minyard
Comments: 8
Kudos: 48
Collections: AFTG Reverse Big Bang 2020





	The War Behind Your Face; And I'll Express My Inner Rage

**Author's Note:**

  * For [llheji](https://archiveofourown.org/users/llheji/gifts).



> This is my submission for this round of the reverse bang. Once again I have been teamed with the wonderfully talented llheji. I would like to express so much gratitude to wishbonetea for spending so much time editing this fic and Iamafairytale for some story input. 
> 
> If you expect answers walk away now. if you want an epic journey please continue whole-heartedly with open minds. I love you all.
> 
> PLEASE CHECK OUT THE ARTWORK HERE

"You fucking bastard," Andrew yells. "You actual piece of shit."

The fox in front of him prances tauntingly as the man lies bleeding in front of him, his face caved in completely unrecognisable. Andrew takes a deep breath, it's so deep his lungs hurt. He doesn't care; he just takes off at a sprint chasing the fox until he can't anymore.

"Fuck you," Andrew snarls to himself. Then he wakes up with blinding light streaming in through the window.

"You know, you talk in your sleep," Aaron says. His twin brother already dressed for school. Andrew pulls the covers up over his head and doesn't reply, all the anger of his dream has swept away into a numb nothingness. He can hear Aaron make a sound of disapproval.

"I'll get your meds," Aaron says, leaving Andrew to wallow in his existence. He does eventually decide that getting up is a more viable option than staying in bed all day and wanders downstairs to the kitchen. Andrew’s medication and a glass of orange juice is sitting on the counter. Aaron is long gone and luckily, so is his mother. Andrew takes the drugs, swallowing as quickly as possible so as not to feel them sticking in his throat.

By the time he gets to school he’s missed the first period and half of the second, Kevin seems irritated with him but that’s hardly anything new. Mr. Moriyama is teaching their history class though so Andrew accepts the twitchiness with a cool look. It isn’t like the principal is the issue, no its his snot-nosed little monster of a brother. Andrew’s tempted to just stab the little fucker (Riko, not Ichirou) and be done with it. However Riko has no animal that dances around him marking his imminent doom and Andrew can’t actually mess with fate.  _ He’d already tried that. _

“Mr. Minyard,” Mr. Moriyama calls as class lets out.

Andrew pauses, turning to look at the man over his shoulder. “Is it important? This is my lunch break after all,” he says, continuing to walk forward and get lost in the crowd.

“Damn it, Andrew,” Mr. Moriyama says sharply, grabbing onto the edge of Andrew’s arm to stop him.   
  
Andrew looks down at Mr. Moriyama’s hand and then back up at his face. All the other students have cleared out so Andrew lifts his other arm and slaps Mr. Moriyama across the face. To his credit the man doesn’t even remotely flinch. He does let go though.

“You can’t just do that,” Mr. Moriyama says softly letting go. “Just like you can’t keep showing up late to every class. I know the meds have you fucked up but it was the best I could do.”

“You know fucking nothing,” Andrew says, apathy seeping out of his pores and poisioning the air around them. “Also learn to put a collar on our little brother before I neuter him.”

“Riko means well, really,” Mr. Moriyama starts, he cuts himself off almost immediately though. “Get the fuck out of my sight, Mr. Minyard.”

Andrew gives him a cruel, twisted grin and does exactly that.

He finds Nicky and Seth having an argument in the cafeteria because they can’t help themselves. Not that Andrew particularly blames either of them, or maybe he blames both of them. Nevertheless, he grabs the back of Seth’s hair and gently tugs. Relatively gently at least.

“Ow, fuck, Why do you always pull my hair?” Seth complains, rubbing the back of his head.

“Andrew loves me,” Nicky says sticking his tongue out and there’s a part of Andrew that fantasies about cutting it off.

“Nicky, throwing a tantrum is not worth dealing with,” Andrew replies in that kind of monotone voice he uses when he’s tired, he feels like he’s using it a lot lately. Maybe because life is so tiring. He stifles a yawn behind tightly sealed lips and takes a seat. He steals a slice of Seth’s crappy pizza. It’s too chewy and feels foul in his mouth but he eats it all on principle. Nicky and Seth go back to their argument and Kevin joins in. Andrew can see Renee braiding Allison's hair in his periphery and Dan, Matt and Aaron are playing an intense round of snap with cards from hell knows where.

That’s when he sees him, the boy, Andrew doesn’t know how anyone could miss him. He looks like he stepped out of a horror movie. The twist of his body is grotesque and the ooze dripping from him covers the floor. Andrew thinks it must be because no one else can see what he sees. It’s the fox though, the fox is what catches his eye the most. He tears his gaze away only to find Mr. Moriyama leaning against the wall and staring at the same boy.

“I’m going,” Andrew says and gets up before anyone can say anything, least of all protest. He pushes through the doors to wind up outside in the car park and barely a moment later Ichirou comes after him.

“I think I need a cigarette,” Ichirou says.

Andrew nods and pulls a packet from his jacket pocket. He pulls two out and wordlessly lights them both handing one over to Ichirou who takes it.

“I really should encourage you to stop smoking,” Ichirou says, taking a long drag. “Let’s get out of sight at least.”

They take a few paces to find themselves around the corner of the building, technically there’s a camera that’s supposed to monitor back here but they both know it’s turned off.

“I know him,” Andrew admits, it’s probably dangerous to lay that fact out on the table. It never pays to be vulnerable around Ichirou and yet here he is.

“So you had a dream then?” Ichirou asks, Andrew doesn’t reply, just takes a drag of his cigarette and wishes it was something much stronger. Ichirou hums. “You haven’t had a dream since Riko and Kevin.”

“And look how that turned out,” Andrew snarls and it's the most emotion he’s felt since he started these damn drugs.

“You should make friends with the boy,” Ichirou tells him.

Andrew disagrees, Andrew doesn’t have friends. He has a collection. He drops his cigarette to the ground and twists it out with the toe of his boots. “I’m going inside.”

When Andrew goes back into the cafeteria all of them are gone, and their usual table is left empty. He perches himself on it, his feet up on one of the bench seats and pulls out his phone to play a mind-numbing game of Candy Crush.

“Hey, Andrew,” a voice says and Andrew doesn’t bother to look up to the sound. There’s a couple of seconds of silence before, “Did you do the English homework?”

“Yes, Riko, I did the English homework,” Andrew says very much in a manner that suggests he thinks Riko is a moron.

“Can I take a look?” Riko asks and Andrew finally pockets his phone.

“You know I thought you got over copying my homework when we were like thirteen.”

“Andrew, come on, Father is visiting I didn’t—”

Riko doesn’t have the chance to finish his sentence because Andrew slams a hand over his mouth.

“Since when has Father been here?” Andrew hisses. Nobody had told him anything.

“Since Saturday,” Comes Riko’s reply and Andrew just stares at him blankly. They’d had the whole damn weekend it isn’t like Andrew had been busy or anything. He and Aaron had spent the whole time playing video games. Almost the whole time, Andrew amended. Aaron’s new girlfriend had come over too, and Andrew does not like her.

“Well then, that’s completely and utterly okay isn’t it,” he says boredly as the speakers around the cafeteria play the sound of a bell chiming. Andrew stands up and starts towards their English class with Riko trailing behind him like a lost puppy.

“Andrew, come on why do you always have to be so difficult?” Riko asks, but Andrew has stopped listening because the boy from earlier is standing there looking like he’s about to drop dead any second. The fox is huge, circling around and around like it wants to consume everything in its path. Andrew can’t help but wonder what would cause that, only the worst omens could be that large. Andrew wants to pet it which seems an odd thing considering he’s avoided the animals at all costs before.   
  


“Andrew, are you even listening to me?”

“No, not particularly,” Andrew replies, continuing to walk and by some small miracle Riko actually shuts up.

  
  


The rest of the day is largely uneventful at least as far as Andrew is concerned. He’s sure the drama between one of the cheerleaders and one of the football players is thrilling in someone else’s mind, but he’s not sure why he should care. Most of the car park has cleared out by now, Ichirou’s familiar silver Porsche is sitting in his designated spot, Andrew pulls out a set of keys from his pocket and opens the door, tossing his backpack inside. It isn’t stealing if he doesn’t need to break in. He highly doubts Ichirou knows he had keys made.

The engine revs to life as Andrew presses the ignition. The rumble of the engine felt just like the steady hum of anger inside of Andrew’s chest. He turns the wheel and reverses out of the car park, before heading in the opposite direction of the place he's supposed to call home. He's barely thirty seconds out of the gate when he spots him and at the last second slams on the breaks and throws the door open.

"Get in, new kid," Andrew demands. He gets a sullen and resentful look for his efforts.

"Why should I? Your driving will probably get me killed," the boy says.

Andrew doubts it, the things spilling off him are more than a simple crash. "Would that be such a bad way to go?" Andrew asks. "Besides, what makes you think I'd scratch up my car?"

"Your car?" There's a raised eyebrow that accompanies the question.

"For now," Andrew agrees and the boy finally relents and slides into the passenger seat.

"I'm Neil."

"I didn't ask, put your seatbelt on, Neil. Safety first," Andrew says. Neil does as instructed but it feels like it has more to do with force of habit than obedience.

  
  


Andrew doesn’t have a particular destination in mind and Neil doesn’t speak. He doesn’t do anything other than stare out the window. The car radio plays the sounds of a violin. There's something about the cadence of it that sounds familiar.

Andrew pulls the car over once the sun starts going down and checks his phone. He has one new, very angry message from Ichirou. He presses the call button.

“Hello,” he says in Japanese. Neil turns to face him with interest, Andrew raises an eyebrow.

“Hello, bastard, please come and pick me up,” Ichirou says sticking to the same language, in a dangerous, calm tone that he uses when he's about to give someone a year's worth of detention.

Andrew hangs up the phone and starts the engine. "We have to make a pit stop."

"Fine," Neil says, "I have nowhere to be."

Andrew thinks this a curious fact considering he's kept Neil occupied for quite a while by this point. He drives back towards the school and pulls rather haphazardly into the parking lot. Stopping the car on a diagonal over four spaces.

Ichirou strides towards them with great purpose and Andrew flashes the high beams straight into his eyes. Andrew can see him growl in frustration. Ichirou yanks the door open, leaning into the car.

"Mr Josten, very pleased to see you making friends," he says with a smile, pressing down on Andrew's seat belt buckle so it releases and dragging Andrew from the car.

Andrew doesn't resist at all. He simply makes himself a dead weight in Ichirou's arms. Somehow the two of them end up on the hard, black surface of the car park. Andrew pushes upwards and sinks his teeth into Ichirou's shoulder which makes the man reel backwards. He gives Andrew a dirty look.

"That'll leave a mark," he complains.

"Tell people you got yourself a girlfriend," Andrew retorts. "Get in the car."

"You are still aware it's my car?" Ichirou questions but he somehow doesn't sound convinced of that fact.

"Are the two of you done or do I have to continue this front row session of bad posturing," Neil scrunches up his nose in distaste.

Ichirou steps away from Andrew so fast it's almost laughable. Andrew finds he doesn't have the time to laugh though he just presses his thumb into the bitemark to watch Ichirou yelp.

"Fucking asshole," Ichirou mutters, punching Andrew in the gut and sliding into the car. "You can walk home."

Andrew tries not to flinch but somehow he’d forgotten how hard Ichirou can hit. Neil stares at him from the passenger seat. He doesn’t get out though and Andrew just can’t figure him out. Ichirou adjusts the seat and the mirrors before sparing one more glance at Andrew.

All things considered, Andrew probably deserves that but he’s still irritated by it. He starts to walk towards where he currently lives. He’s avoided it enough.

  
  


The woman is sitting at the kitchen table when Andrew gets home. Eyes red and bloodshot. He watches her carefully as he kicks his shoes off and leaves them on top of the pile at the front door.

“Aaron,” she says sugary sweet and lunges towards him. Andrew steps easily out of the way and she smashes into the wall.

“Wrong son, Tilda,” he says, sounding much more amused than he sounds. Maybe in a different lifetime, in a different world, he would have felt more pity for her. That or he'd have killed her himself.

“Andrew, my beautiful boy,” she says, trying to stroke his cheek. He feels a wave of nausea hit him.

“I have homework,” he tells her, moving up the stairs as quickly as he can without running. He closes the bedroom door behind him gently so as not to make a noise and leans against it.

“Where have you been?” Aaron asks looking up from the textbook he’s hunched over.

Andrew shakes his head, a universal sign that he doesn’t want to talk and Aaron accepts it by not pressing further.

“Kevin called. Him, Seth and Allison are swiping some of her dad’s alcohol stash if we want in,” Aaron tells him.

It’s tempting, but Andrew doesn’t think he can deal with any of them right now. “On a school night?” he huffs out with the fakest amount of indignation he can manage. “You go have fun. Tell Seth that if he even thinks about giving you any drugs I will fucking gut him."

“Understood,” Aaron replies. “Help me with the window?”

Andrew does and then he helps Aaron climb down. Both of them giving each other a mock salute. Once Aaron is out of sight Andrew crawls into his bed fully clothed and wraps his arms around his waist, tucking his legs up to his chest so he becomes a human ball.

It takes him hours to fall asleep. Too many things buzzing through his brain and when he finally does he dreams of blood and black ooze and helplessness. Why is he never fast enough?

  
  


Andrew screams when he wakes up, loud enough to feel as though the room is shaking. He feels Aaron's arms around his chest before his vision clears. There's a temptation to resist, to thrash about, but he finds himself too drained to make himself move.

"I'll run you a bath and grab your meds," Aaron tells him running a hand through Andrew's disgustingly sweaty hair

Andrew breathes in and out and in again shallowly. He reaches for his phone to switch it on and check messages. There's four sitting in his inbox.

**Allison:** _ Freak, you're missing out and people miss you. _

Andrew deletes it but still, there's a pang of satisfaction in his chest that someone had wanted him around.

**Father:** _ Andrew. We request your presence at the house 7 pm for dinner. Dress appropriately. _

**Riko:** _ I need you. _

At least he hadn't said please or begged. Begging was always much more Kevin's thing. Andrew tries to weigh up the pros and cons of going to a family dinner when the final text catches his eye.

**Unknown:** _ ichirou gve me ur number _

The text isn't signed but Andrew still replies with  _ hello Neil.  _ Before dragging himself into the bath.

The water is warm and makes him feel light-headed but it's relaxing and takes away the tension building in his spine. Aaron had even added bubbles which Andrew appreciates. Having them makes him feel less exposed.

Aaron has left him clothes and medication on the edge of the bathroom sink. If Andrew listens closely he can hear him and the woman downstairs. He wonders if he drowned in this tub how long it would take them to notice.

He is aware that's a bad thought but he still lets himself slide under the water before resurfacing, the chemicals in the bubbles stinging the edge of his eyes.

There's a knock on the door and Andrew turns to look at it.

"I'm going to school. Are you coming today?" Aaron asks.

Andrew doesn't think about it too hard. "Yes," he says as he stands up and reaches for a towel. 

  
  


School is bustling with too much life, it always is. Aaron is talking to his girlfriend and Andrew doesn't understand how he can concentrate on anything she's saying with that gum in her mouth.

"Straight people mating rituals confuse me," Nicky says appearing at his left.

Andrew barely turns to look at him but he does acknowledge him with a small grunt. Honestly, all of it confused Andrew. Why would you want to date anyone? It felt entirely like a waste of time. Renee appears on his other side.

"The new boy seems interesting," she says fiddling with a simplistic gold cross around her neck. Renee can't see things the way Andrew can but she's certainly got a sense for something.

"Which new boy?" Nicky asks lowly. Clearly already trying to suss out if he can seduce some poor unsuspecting fool. Given Nicky's track record there's at least a minor chance of that.

Kevin and Seth are next to arrive, speaking of the devil, and Andrew has to wonder if thinking about Nicky's past conquests has summoned them. They’re passing a bottle of no-name brand soda between them. Andrew has a distinct feeling half of it is vodka but he's not going to judge them for being drunk at school. Kevin stumbles and Seth puts an arm around his waist to steady him. Kevin visibly flinches away.  _ How curious, _ Andrew thinks.

Andrew's phone buzzes in his pocket, too much to be a text. He pulls it out and answers it in the middle of the school as the gym teacher walks past him. He looks at Coach Wymack with just a hint of mischievous defiance in his eyes—as much as he can muster under the mask of medication—But Wymack only rolls his eyes.

"What do you want?" Andrew says, cutting straight to the chase.

"Skip school with me," says Neil's voice on the other end.

"Isn't this your first proper day? Naughty." Andrew drawls. Already heading to the door. "I'm coming to you. Where are you?" he asks, ignoring the questioning stares of everyone.

"You'll see me," Neil says, sounding like he's trying not to laugh. Andrew narrows his eyes and then he spots him leaning against a random locker. It could be his own for all Andrew knows.

Andrew hangs up the phone. "Alright, rebel, what are we doing exactly?" he asks.

Neil tilts his head. "Ever been ice-skating?" he asks, pushing off the locker and starting to walk. Andrew follows at a leisurely pace just behind him. Andrew rushes for no one.

"You want to go to an ice rink?" Andrew asks boredly. All the possible things they could do. Neil looks over his shoulder and glares at Andrew. His eyes are very fox-like, Andrew observes. "You could just go to class," Neil points out but by this point they're already outside and Andrew doesn't feel like going back.

"We can go if you tell me what's wrong with you."

"That's a weird request," Neil says. He doesn't deny there is something the matter with him though.

"I'm a weird guy," Andrew retorts, steering Neil by grabbing his shoulders. Neil just lets him.

"You could say I have a heart defect," Neil says somewhat cryptically.

Andrew hums but allows them to walk in silence for a couple of blocks "And do you have a heart defect?" he asks eventually.

"A defect implies I have a heart," Neil replies.

"I get the distinct feeling you don't mean that figuratively,” Andrew says staring at Neil curiously. It has been a long time since someone has intrigued him like this.

“I was born with a hole in my heart, a huge hole that meant my survival rate was non-existent,” Neil explains. His words are honest and unimaginably hard to hear.

“And yet here you are, just standing there.”

“I shouldn’t be, if my father had any say in it I would be dead,” Neil scoffs, stretching his back out as they walk. “It isn’t even like it was a money thing, my family had plenty and I’m an only child too.”

“Normal families would have spoiled you,” Andrew observes, at the very least it’s what he’d been led to believe.

“My parents had powerful friends, they paid for the surgery on the stipulation my parents owed them a favour. Only they didn’t just fix the hole,” Neil clutches at his chest. “They put in a mechanical device.”

“Well, that seems faulty,” Andrew counters, and it does. Machines can break. Neil seems aware of this fact.

“Why do you care? It isn’t as though you have control of it. That illustrious honour belongs to someone else,” Neil replies.

Andrew wonders if, underneath the peaceful exterior, Neil is angry. He thinks he would be if he were in the same situation. Andrew hates anything he can’t control.

“Have you thought about killing them?” he asks as they reach the parking lot of the ice rink.

“Yes,” Neil says. “Everyday.”

  
  


The rink is cold. Much colder than outside but Neil doesn’t shiver. Andrew feels impressed if he allows his internal voice honesty.

It takes them only a few moments to get their skates and lace them up. Andrew's phone buzzes and he spares a glance at the messages. 

**Seth:** _Bro, where did you go? Principal Moriyama is on the prowl._

**Seth:** _ Kevin is acting super weird I’m worried _

**Seth:** _ Seriously… _

Andrew rolls his eyes. Those two always did make an odd set of friends. Most people think Seth and Kevin hate each other, arguing that the two of them are both vying for Allison’s attention, but Andrew always thought there was something more to it.

He double knots the laces of his skates harshly. Neil is already standing at the gate waiting for him. Andrew’s stomach feels like a twisted mess and he can’t peg why.  _ Maybe his medication dosage had been off this morning, _ he thinks. It’s doubtful. Aaron’s memory may not be as perfect as Andrew’s but he is meticulous. He wants to be a doctor after all.

Walking in skates is hard but he manages not to wobble too much which he's grateful for. He's still a teenager and he'd rather not look completely uncoordinated, especially not in front of a cute boy. Neil is objectively good looking after all.

Neil, as it turns out, is fast and graceful on the ice. Andrew has been before when he was younger, and then once again with Riko and Kevin. There's a disturbing pang in his heart as he remembers how they'd taken turns holding his hands so he wouldn't fall. He wants to cry about it but he can't. He sticks close to the wall. He isn't the worst skater but he's shaky and he thinks Neil's fox would trip him up given the chance.

The creature keeps darting between them unbeknownst to anyone else. It's almost disappointing that the only other person who can see it is Ichirou. He watches Neil do a small spin and start skating backwards. He wonders which lecture he'll get for this discretion.

He stops and waits for Neil to circle around. "Want to come to dinner with my family?" he asks nonchalantly. "Father has demanded my presence. He didn't specify I had to come alone."

"Don't like your dad?" Neil asks. He's only half right but truths like this one are complicated.

"I haven't seen much of him. Besides, he's my foster father, really. No idea who my biological dad even is," Andrew explains. Neil had had a moment of honesty earlier, and this is Andrew's personal, private way of paying him back, even if Neil will never know.

Neil nods. "Family is messy and doesn't stop or start at the people who donated genetic material."

"Well aren't you philosophical," Andrew scoffs.

"Yup, that's me," Neil says, rolling his eyes. "I'm going to do a few more laps."

Andrew watches him take off.  _ He's barely known him a day. This feeling cannot be normal. _

  
  


Andrew and Neil stand outside the Moriyama house at 6.55 pm. Andrew is in a tailored black suit with a silver gray tie. Neil at the very least has a shirt and clean jeans.

"Big house," Neil observes, and Andrew recognises the tang of discomfort clouding him. The kind of discomfort that only comes from familiarity. Andrew has no time to comment because Riko comes storming out of the front door.

"You weren't supposed to bring a guest," he accuses. "Father and Uncle will have a fit."

"Oh goodie," Andrew says sarcastically. He closes his eyes for a few moments and then hugs Riko tightly., his skin crawling the whole time.

"Thank you," Riko says.

"Don't tell me that," Andrew replies.

Neil watches the two of them with a look of morbid fascination on his face.

"We should go inside," Andrew tells them and pushes through the front door.

The inside of the house is already crawling with guests and the household staff to attend to them. Kevin and Jean have a documentary about ancient Rome playing on the large television in the living room. Uncle Tetsuji and Aunt Erio are drinking a bottle of white wine on the patio. Ichirou has brought his grading home with him and Marie-Clarence, the maid, is trying to set it up around him and his papers.

Ichirou looks up and spots them so Andrew walks over with Neil trailing behind.

"I'm incredibly angry and disappointed at both of you," Ichirou chastises. Pulling out a chair and gesturing for Neil to sit down. Neil hesitates and sits.

"Is Father upstairs then?" Andrew asks, his gaze shifting to the staircase. Ichirou nods and Andrew begins his ascent upwards, leaving Neil at the mercy of his brother.

Kengo Moriyama is sitting in a large leather armchair smoking a cigarette. The window is open because the breeze is making the gossamer curtains blow about like a 1940's crime noir film.

"You do know the stench of nicotine devalues the house," Andrew says. Walking forward and bowing before lowering himself onto the bed.

"I didn't actually think you'd show up," Kengo responds, putting the smoke out in the ashtray. "If I recall you and Kevin first tried smoking in the bathroom across the floor. You always were a bad influence.”

"Not always," Andrew counters.

"How is that new family of yours, does your mother find the house comfortable?"

"She's not my mother no matter how much DNA we happen to share. I hate her," Andrew tells Kengo matter of factly.

"Last I checked you hated me too."

Andrew's breath falters for a second. Kengo isn't wrong and they both know it. He won't apologise for it either.

"I brought a friend to dinner," Andrew says, cutting to the chase. Kengo is going to find out sooner or later.

"Andrew, my son. You do not have friends. We are too alike, you and I," Kengo once again is irritatingly correct.

"I will not ask him to leave," Andrew says defiantly. He thinks maybe his heart skips a beat or two or three. His need to one-up his father could be putting someone in real danger.

"You know what it means if he stays, Andrew. You are a Moriyama," Kengo tells him.

"That's a life sentence," Andrew pulls back his sleeve to reveal a black silhouette of a mountain range tattooed on his arm. Kengo twists his hair back and turns to show Andrew a matching one on the back of his neck.

"We should go downstairs and greet our family," Kengo says and Andrew can not help the numb feeling of hatred at the words.

  
  


When he goes back downstairs, Riko is speaking in hushed tones to Neil; a fact Andrew feels uncomfortable with considering that Riko has his shirt unbuttoned enough to reveal the strangulation marks on his neck: marks Andrew had placed there. The way they hadn't faded yet wasn't natural. They shouldn't still be there.

Andrew moves forward and yanks Neil backwards away from Riko. Neil turns to him and rolls his eyes rather than voicing any kind of protest. He presses himself up against Andrew's side and suddenly Andrew has an urge to run a thousand miles.

"Mr Wesninski," Kengo says sharply as he descends the staircase making the whole room freeze and Andrew's brain short circuit. Something that hasn't happened for a long time. "I had not realised my son has brought you as his companion."

Ignoring the twisted feeling Andrew has in his gut, he still steps slightly in front of Neil. Neil's fox circles around Andrew's ankles playfully.

"You know it's Mr Josten now. I would certainly appreciate it if you'd remember that," Neil says coldly and Andrew has to admit he's sort of turned on by the steel of his voice.

"Of course. Neil was it?" Kengo says dragging out the name as though it should be longer. Neil doesn't have the chance to reply, and Andrew's not entirely sure he'd intended to anyway, because Marie-Clarence comes to announce dinner is served.

Despite the amount of teenagers, dinner is an unsurprisingly quiet affair. Andrew winds up between Kevin and Neil and across the table from Riko. Riko kicks him under the table at least twice, though Andrew will get him back for it later.

The food at least is good, but that may just be because of the professional chef. It's roast chicken with sweet potatoes tonight; Jean's favourite dish if Andrew remembers correctly. He does, of course he does.

Andrew's phone rings and he doesn't even realise it's his. He must have hit the volume button because the sound is shrill and obnoxious.

"You had best get that," Tetsuji says sharply. Andrew does as he's told because although he'll never admit it out loud his uncle makes him somewhat nervous.

"She's had an overdose," Aaron tells him once he's stepped in the other room to answer it. There's a flash of irritation at his twin for calling about something so trivial.

"She'll be fine," he responds. Even though he wishes she'd drop dead. There's complete silence on the other end. "Did you take her to the emergency room?"

There's a hand on his shoulder and Neil looking at him curiously. 'Fuck off,' he mouths without any heat and Neil grins at him.

"Yeah I did," Aaron is replying because the guy is trying for sainthood apparently. "They've just taken her in now. They keep telling me I should have called an ambulance. I didn't see the point."

Neil is holding his head close to Andrew's phone unashamedly, trying to listen into the conversation. Andrew angles the phone so they can both hear. "She's stable enough, I'm going to stay here tonight," Aaron continues.

"Bully for you," Andrew says sarcastically. Neil pinches the back of his neck and Andrew swats at him.

"I know it's not what you want to hear but she is still a person, Andrew, even if you don't consider her your mother," Aaron says. Andrew hangs up on him.

"You're so pleasant," Neil says mildly. "Also your family is weird."

Andrew doesn't respond to that, a four-year-old child could tell that the family is weird. He knows from experience.

Jean pokes his head out from the dining room. "Uncle Kengo wants you both to stay the night."

  
  


They stay the night: Andrew because he has nowhere else to be, and Neil because he's an enigma.

They lie together on Andrew's childhood bed. There's a cluster of glow in the dark stars on the ceiling that he put up when he was nine. He remembers Father being angry about it, claiming it ruined the paintwork. And yet, here they remain, years later.

"So, Wesninski?" Andrew asks and Neil flinches. Andrew looks up from the book he's stolen to seethe at the fox sitting on Neil’s upper back, digging its claws in.

"That’s my dad's name, not mine," Neil replies after a few drawn-out moments.

Andrew nods. "We're a pair, I guess. Neither of us kept our fathers’ names."

Neil tilts his head upwards to stare at Andrew. "I've never been part of a pair before," he says softly.

Andrew reaches out and shoves his head down. "Don't have an aneurysm. I'm not inviting you to the prom."

There's a series of soft knocks on the door. Andrew groans and gets up from the bed to fling the door open.

"What the fuck, Kevin?" he questions, grabbing the taller boy by his shirt and dragging him inside.

"Jean's with Riko," Kevin responds, sounding forlorn about it. To Kevin, it probably feels like a whole ordeal.

"You can't just sit in your room alone?" Andrew huffs, making space for Kevin on the bed.

"He's supposed to be my brother, not Riko's," Kevin says, glancing at Neil. Andrew wonders if Kevin sees the newcomer as a threat.

"Your family is weird," Neil says, reiterating his earlier words.

"I know," Kevin and Andrew say together. Neil laughs at them and Andrew punches him in the arm.

"You guys are weird about Riko."

"Don't judge him," Kevin snaps and Neil seems offended but Andrew can't tell.

"How's Seth, then?" Andrew asks, goading a subject change out of his cousin. Kevin's face flushes red.

"Him and Allison are fine," he practically squeaks.

"Him and Allison are fine," Andrew parrots, adding in an over-exaggerated eye roll for comedic effect.

Kevin doesn't laugh. "Just because I like spending time with them doesn't make me obsessed, man, I can have normal friends."

Andrew recognises a dig when he hears one and decides tonight is a night to leave it well enough alone. His phone pings and he glances at the message.

**Jean:** _ Wanna tell scary stories? Sleepover? _

Andrew pockets his phone and looks up to find Kevin doing the same thing.

"So is that some sort of super secret creepy family code or what?" Neil asks. "Or did you just both very coincidentally get texts at the same time that are unrelated but cause the same facial expressions?"

"Jean wants to have a sleepover like when we were kids," Kevin explains. Although they couldn't really be considered sleepovers because they all lived in this same house.

Neil shrugs. "Sounds fun enough," he says. "May as well text back yes."

With that settled it takes thirty odd seconds for Jean to open the bedroom door with Riko trailing behind him. They shift from the bed to the floor, trying to arrange themselves as comfortably as possible. Kevin and Riko wind up pressed against each other like nothing ever happened. Then they both flinch and look like they might cry but neither move away.

"Ichirou's already asleep," Jean explains with a shrug. Andrew hadn't felt the absence until it was pointed out to him but now he swallows the feeling of it through the numbness of his medication. It's almost worn off now.

"He's getting old," Andrew jokes. 

"He's always getting old, that's what he gets for being the oldest," Riko says, "Always got a bunch of younger siblings to drive him mad."

"Well, you'd know," Kevin mutters, it's common for all of them to blur and unblur the lines of siblings and cousins.

"You guys are barely eight months apart in age don't be so fucking dramatic," Jean scoffs.

Neil stares at them all. "I mean I'm an only child," he offers.

Andrew pinches his side. "Nobody asked you." The fox growls at him but Neil says nothing.

"I have a story," Kevin offers up, clearly eager to move on to the point of the gathering.

"Go on then," Jean encourages and the rest of the room falls to a semi-companionable silence. 

"Once upon a time—"

"That isn't how a horror story starts," Riko pipes up and Andrew kicks him.

Kevin ignores him. "Once upon a time, there was a huge house right on the very outskirts of town. The house wasn't that special other than its size and the family inside was perfectly normal—" Kevin pauses for dramatic effect because he always liked to be a show off, "—seemingly normal. A big family with many brothers running about, they had toys and lessons just like every other family. They even had friends, but the family in the huge house had a secret, can you guess what the secret is?" He turns to look at Neil because he's the newest here.

Neil to his credit doesn't seem phased by the way they all turn to look at him. "I have no idea. They were all cannibals?"

Andrew has to stifle a small fit of laughter, he waves his hand for Kevin to continue and wishes he had a bottle of whiskey.

"No, not cannibals, but one of the brothers was a monster and not just any kind of monster. One that was pure evil and left oozing black blood and destruction wherever he would roam." Andrew watches Neil in his peripheral vision. His face remaining blank as black ooze trickles down Neil's face. It'd be amazing timing if anyone else could see it. "But the monster went uncaught and unpunished because not a single person knew who it was." Jean is shooting glances between Kevin, Riko and Andrew now. Andrew's sure he thinks as their older brother maybe he should stop this, but Andrew is fascinated with where this shitshow is going.

"They all had their theories, everyone just loves a good conspiracy—"

Jean's hand reaches out and snatches at Kevin's arm. "We have company Kevin."

"Oh, the company is perfectly entertained," Neil retorts a wild grin on his face.

Andrew isn't sure if he wants to start laughing or hit something until his hands bleed. "Monsters aren't fucking self aware," he says sharply, cryptidly. "As fun as this bullshit is I'm going to sleep, get the fuck out of my room."

Everyone, including Neil goes to leave. Andrew grabs him tightly by the back of his t-shirt, and Neil turns to blink at him owlishly. "Yeah?"

"You stay with me."

  
  


The next day at school Aaron looks like he hasn't slept. Andrew's twin raises an eyebrow at the new appendage that is Neil, but he doesn't comment.

"How's your mum doing?" Renee asks Aaron, because she knows better than to ask Andrew.

"She'll be fine. She'll need to go to rehab, though, so my Aunt and Uncle have offered to put us up," Aaron explains.

This is the first Andrew's being told any of this and it makes his skin crawl. He must grip his plastic fork too tightly because it snaps completely in half. The fox jumps onto his shoulder, it's claws digging in painfully. "We aren't going anywhere near Luther's house."

"I thought we'd be able to hang out," Nicky says, his eyes wide and pleading.

"We hang out all the time at school," Andrew points out and Nicky looks a little crestfallen. “Nicky, I’m going to say this to you one time and one time only, I love you but I will not stay in a house with a man who tried to have me exorcised. For God’s sake, he tried to send you to a conversion camp.”

“You shouldn’t use the lord’s name in vain,” Renee says serenely and Andrew shoots her an incredulous look.

“I know,” Nicky says quietly, “But he’s still my dad. He’s still family.”

“My family is dead; sounds like I'm the lucky one," Neil says, eating his lunch quietly.

"That's dark dude," Matt snorts and then looks a little mortified. Serves him right for eavesdropping from across the table. Then again, none of them have been particularly quiet.

"I'm an emancipated minor." Neil offers with a shrug, which makes a lot of sense. "My father pissed off the wrong people and my mother was just collateral damage."

The table around them falls silent, which feels ominous as the rest of the cafeteria continues to buzz around them.

"I… my dad got me addicted to oxy," Matt offers up, trying to break through the uneasy quiet.

Andrew looks over at him surprised, he hadn't known that. "Is that why you disappeared for three months?"

Of course, because Andrew's luck is generally abysmal, the bell goes off and everyone starts shovelling the last of food into their mouths. Bags are gathered almost wordlessly and people steal concerned glances at Neil who hurries off to what will technically be his first class.

"He seems charming," Seth retorts, which means at the very least he doesn't despise Neil on sight. Kevin mutters something Andrew has no hope of hearing, but it causes both Allison and Seth to start codling him like a toddler having a tantrum.

"He's been here for five minutes and I want to adopt the kid," Matt says.

"Well too late," Andrew says, not remotely joking. Matt raises his hands in mock defense and grins that puppy dog smile of his.

"You really like him don't you?" Matt asks.

"He's actually the worst thing that's ever happened to me in my life."

  
  


When Andrew has another dream, he's bloody and he feels like he's burning. He can see a stained glass window above him with a depiction of the Archangel Raphael. Andrew tries to laugh at the fact he knows that, but no sound comes out.

He turns his head to the right and he can see Riko and Kevin fused together by their rib cages. Riko reaches for some sort of small ornate axe, likely ceremonial with those jewels on the handle. Andrew goes to reach out, to call out, to do anything.

There's a noise behind him. He doesn't mean to look. Not really. It's the gasp that gets him to turn. Neil is standing there like a statue with his heart missing. Andrew glances down at Neil's feet to watch as the fox devours a piece of red, raw meat.

This time when he wakes up he doesn't scream or thrash about. He pulls on a t-shirt and steps into a pair of shoes, before making his way out of the house. He's two blocks down the street before he realises he hasn't taken his phone or his wallet.

"Fuck," he mutters. He could go back but somehow subconsciously he thinks it's too late for that.

It takes him roughly half an hour to walk home. It takes five minutes until Ichirou comes to answer the stones knocking at his bedroom window. 

"It's 2 am Andrew, what fresh fucking bullshit is this?" Ichirou hisses. "You know what let me grab my dressing gown, I'm coming out," 

Ichirou pushes open the front door and his face falls almost immediately. "Andrew, little brother, it's cold out here tonight."

"I need you to take me to Neil's right now," Andrew demands. Ichirou looks like he's about to argue and Andrew has the fuzzy urge to hit something.

"Get in the Porsche," Ichirou tells him. He's taking off before Andrew even has the chance to buckle up his seatbelt. The speeds his brother is driving at could get them arrested, but no sirens appear in the rearview mirror. Ichirou brings the car to a screeching halt sooner than Andrew expects.

He's not sure what he was expecting Neil's place to look like, but this isn't it. It's small and in good condition. Nestled at the end of a dead-end street behind a low red brick fence. The air around it feels as though it's crackling and Andrew can't help holding his breath for a few seconds.

Ichirou knocks on the door, once, twice, three times to no answer. There's a loose brick in the wall. Andrew throws it through the window, feeling satisfied with the way the glass shatters.

"Really? Andrew?" Ichirou says, sounding exasperated. He probably is.

Andrew climbs in through the window, with Ichirou following behind afterwards. The house feels stagnant and shrouded in darkness. They make their way through the house, trying not to trip on furniture. 

The fox is glowing, sitting on top of Neil's body when they finally find it. Andrew feels numb, but he still crouches down to check for a pulse. There's nothing there.

"Andrew, he's not dead," Ichirou whispers, moving in next to him.

"Of course he fucking is, or do you not see what I see?" Andrew asks. He's livid, at his brother, and at this random boy who had the gall to come into his life and turn it inside out. Andrew feels like he's drowning.

"No, Andrew the fox is still there," Ichirou says. 

The fox. 

The fox is still there. The animals have never stayed behind before so that surely has to mean something. It could mean anything.

The thing is though, Neil's entire heart is missing from his chest. That can't actually be survivable.

Ichirou pets the fox, calming it down. He starts to whisper and talk to it. The fox yips loudly pawing unhappily at Neil's lifeless body.

"Go on then," Ichirou encourages, and the fox dives into Neil's chest disappearing inside of him. Andrew frowns and lets himself look.

There in the hole in Neil's chest is a healthy, beating, flesh heart. For the first time since his dreams began. Andrew feels like he can breathe.

Somewhere outside the dawn breaks, and Neil Josten opens his eyes a free man.

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> That's the end of this story, many things are open-ended and I do hope your imaginations run wild with possibilities. I'm happy you've reached the end and I'd love to hear from you about any comments or theories you have. AS ALWAYS PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU STUMBLE ACROSS SOMETHING YOU BELIEVE REQUIRES A WARNING OR TAG.
> 
> Have a gorgeous day, don't forget you're amazing.


End file.
